Method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of an item category in an online auction

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus are disclosed for facilitating category selection by a user in a computerized auction. A category field is provided, containing a plurality of category entries used to categorize an item in the auction. One category entry is selected in the category field and at least one subcategory field is provided, containing a plurality of subcategory entries also used to categorize the item in the auction, the subcategory entries corresponding to the one selected category entry of the plurality of category entries. At least one subcategory entry corresponding to the one selected category entry is further selected in the at least one subcategory field for further processing.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/491,703 filed Jan. 26, 2000, which application is incorporated in itsentirety herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce, and,more particularly, to a method and apparatus for facilitating userselection of item categories in an online auction environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

The fundamental changes brought by the Internet and its subset, theWorld Wide Web (“Web”), have created a new electronic environment thatis changing the way business is transacted. The ongoing revolution inthe field of information delivery is driving the progress in variousareas of everyday life. One area that has benefited from thistechnological development is the electronic auction area, which reflectsthe ability of individuals to sell items within an Internet marketplaceenvironment.

Historically, auctions for sale of various items have proven to be verypopular. Electronic auctions are also becoming increasingly popular dueto their lack of complexity and ease of access. In an electronic auctionenvironment, users connect to servers supporting the auctions and buyand/or sell items over one or more networks, for example including theInternet. Typically, in order to list the items in an efficient mannerand to attract buyers, the seller has to specify the name of the item tobe auctioned, a short description of the item, and a listing category.Since electronic auctions support an ever-increasing number of usersselling a wide array of items, attempts have been made to designefficient interfaces between the users and the companies operating theauctions.

With respect to the category selection process, one previous approachuses a field, which includes all categories, and separate fields forrespective subcategories. The user selects an appropriate category andthen browses through subcategories until he or she finds the subcategorycorresponding to the item to be auctioned. However, the process ofbrowsing through subcategories is time-consuming. Also, the user has torepeat the process for every item that the user intends to auction.Another approach prompts the user to select a category from a listingdisplayed on a Web page, then a subcategory from a second listingdisplayed on a subsequent Web page, then a further subcategory, ifavailable, from a third listing displayed in yet another Web page, untilthe final selection accurately characterizes the item to be auctioned.This approach is also time-consuming and requires a certain amount ofeffort to be completed.

What is needed is a method for facilitating user selection of an itemcategory that is efficient and easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus are disclosed for facilitating category selectionby a user in a computerized auction. A category field is provided,containing a plurality of category entries used to categorize an item inthe auction. One category entry is selected in the category field and atleast one subcategory field is provided, containing a plurality ofsubcategory entries also used to categorize the item in the auction, thesubcategory entries corresponding to the one selected category entry ofthe plurality of category entries. At least one subcategory entrycorresponding to the one selected category entry is further selected inthe at least one subcategory field for further processing.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed description, whichfollow below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art computer network topology.

FIG. 2 illustrates the prior art architecture of a conventional computersystem.

FIG. 3 illustrates the computer network architecture of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing the process of selecting an itemcategory in an online auction from a user's perspective.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the process of selecting an itemcategory in an online auction from a server's perspective.

FIG. 6 a illustrates an exemplary table in the auction database, whichstores item categories and subcategories.

FIG. 6 b illustrates an exemplary table in the auction database, whichstores identification parameters for each category or subcategory.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a user interface used in theprocess of selecting a item category in an online auction.

FIGS. 8A-8J2 illustrate an embodiment of the present inventionimplemented in Javascript language.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of an itemcategory for an online auction is described. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art thatthe present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrates the network environmentin which the present invention operates. In this conventional networkarchitecture, a server computer system 100 is coupled to a network 110,preferably a wide-area network. Wide-area network 110 includes theInternet, or other proprietary networks, such as America On-Line™,CompuServe™, Microsoft Network™, and Prodigy™, each of which are wellknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. Wide-area network 110 mayalso include conventional network backbones, long-haul telephone lines,Internet service providers, various levels of network routers, and otherconventional means for routing data between computers. Usingconventional network protocols, server 100 may communicate throughwide-area network 110 to a plurality of client computer systems 120,130, 140, 150, possibly connected through wide-area network 110 invarious ways or directly connected to server 100. For example, as shownin FIG. 1, client 140 is connected directly to wide-area network 110through direct or dial-up telephone or other network transmission line.Alternatively, client 130 may be connected to wide-area network 110through a conventional modem pool 114. The modem pool 114 allows aplurality of client systems to connect with a smaller set of modems inmodem pool 114 for connection through wide-area network 110. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that a plurality of clients,similar to client 130, may be connected to network 110 using the modempool 114. Client 150 may also be connected directly to server 100, asshown in FIG. 1, or through a modem (not shown) in a conventional way.In another alternative network typology, wide-area network 110 isconnected to a gateway computer 112. Gateway computer 112 is used toroute data to client 120 through a local area network (LAN) 116. In thismanner, client 120 can communicate with other clients (not shown)through LAN 116 or with server 100 through gateway 112 and wide-areanetwork 110. Alternatively, LAN 116 may be directly connected to server100.

Using one of a variety of network connection devices, server computer100 can also communicate directly with client 150. In a particularimplementation of this network configuration, a server computer 100 mayoperate as a web server if the World Wide Web (Web) portion of theInternet is used as wide-area network 110. Using the HTTP protocol andthe HTML coding language across a network, web server 100 maycommunicate across the Web with client 150. In this configuration,client 150 uses a client application program known as a web browser,such as the Netscape™ Navigator™ browser, published by NetscapeCorporation of Mountain View, Calif., the Internet Explorer™ browser,published by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the user interfaceof America On-Line™, or the web browser or HTML translator of any otherconventional supplier. Using such conventional browsers and the Web,client 150 may access graphical and textual data or video, audio, ortactile data provided by server 100. Conventional means exist by whichclient 150 may supply information to web server 100 through the Web 110and the web server 100 may return processed data to client 150.

Having briefly described one embodiment of the network environment inwhich the present invention operates, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of acomputer system 200 illustrating an exemplary client 150 or server 100computer system in which the features of the present invention may beimplemented. Computer system 200 is comprised of a system bus 201, orother communications module similar to the system bus, for communicatinginformation, and a processing module, such as processor 202, coupledwith bus 201 for processing information. Computer system 200 furthercomprises a main memory 204, such as a random access memory (RAM) orother dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 201, for storinginformation and instructions to be executed by processor 202. Mainmemory 204 may also be used for storing temporary variables or otherintermediate information during execution of instructions by processor202. Computer system 200 also comprises a read only memory (ROM) 206,and/or other similar static storage device, coupled to bus 201, forstoring static information and instructions for processor 202.

An optional data storage device 207, such as a magnetic disk or opticaldisk, and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system200 for storing information and instructions. System bus 201 is coupledto an external bus 210, which connects computer system 200 to otherdevices. Computer system 200 can also be coupled via bus 210 to adisplay device 221, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), for displaying information to a computer user. Forexample, graphical or textual information may be presented to the useron display device 221. Typically, an alphanumeric input device 222, suchas a keyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus210 for communicating information and/or command selections to processor202. Another type of user input device is cursor control device 223,such as a conventional mouse, touch mouse, trackball, or other type ofcursor direction keys, for communicating direction information andcommand selection to processor 202 and for controlling cursor movementon display 221. A fully loaded computer system may optionally includevideo, camera, speakers, sound card, and many other similar conventionaloptions.

Alternatively, the client 150 can be implemented as a network computeror thin client device, such as the WebTV Networks™ Internet terminal orthe Oracle™ NC. Client 150 may also be a laptop or palm-top computingdevice, such as the Palm Pilot™. Such a network computer or thin clientdevice does not necessarily include all of the devices and features ofthe above-described exemplary computer system. However, thefunctionality of the present invention may nevertheless be implementedwith such devices.

A communication device 224 is also coupled to bus 210 for accessingremote computers or servers, such as web server 100, or other serversvia the Internet, for example. The communication device 224 may includea modem, a network interface card, or other well known interfacedevices, such as those used for interfacing with Ethernet, Token-ring,or other types of networks. In any event, in this manner, the computersystem 200 may be coupled to a number of servers 100 via a conventionalnetwork infrastructure such as the infrastructure illustrated in FIG. 1and described above.

The present invention includes various processing steps, which will bedescribed below. The steps of the present invention may be embodied inmachine or computer executable instructions. The instructions can beused to cause a general purpose or special purpose processor, which isprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps of the presentinvention. Alternatively, the steps of the present invention may beperformed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logicfor performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computercomponents and custom hardware components. While embodiments of thepresent invention will be described with reference to the Web, themethod and apparatus described herein is equally applicable to othernetwork infrastructures or other data communications systems.

Referring now to FIG. 3, one embodiment of the network configuration ofthe present invention is illustrated. In one embodiment, a web server310 is coupled with web client 330 through the wide-area network 320,such as the Internet. As described above, web server 310 and web client330 may be implemented as conventional computer systems. Softwareapplication programs for implementing the present invention run on webserver 310 and web client 330. As shown in FIG. 3, the server portion ofthe application software of the present invention is shown as serverapplication 312. Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is the client side portionof the application software of the present invention, shown as clientapplication 332. In addition, in one embodiment, web server 310 hasaccess to a user database 318, or an information store, for storing andmanaging user information. As shown in FIG. 3, the user database 318 maybe operated as a database system independent of, but accessible to, theweb server 310 through a local area network (not shown) or other meansof communication. Alternatively, user database 318 may be incorporatedinto web server 310.

Generally, the present invention provides a method and apparatus forfacilitating user selection of item categories in an online auction,made accessible across a wide-area network 320, such as the Internet.Referring again to FIG. 3, the client application software 332 includesat least one basic functional component, shown in one embodiment asclient browser 336, which contains display and category selectioncapabilities. One embodiment of the present invention is implemented inJavascript language as shown in FIGS. 8A-8J2.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, items being theobject of an online auction are classified in categories andsubcategories. As illustrated in FIG. 6 a, each category is stored in afield 610 of a table 620 residing in database 318. Similarly, eachsubcategory resides in a different field 610 in the same database 318.The server application 312 accesses the table 620 in database 318 toretrieve and send stored category and subcategory information to theclient application 332. As shown in FIG. 6 b, each field 610 of onecategory or subcategory separately stores a category number or numericI.D. of the category or subcategory, a name of the category orsubcategory, a numeric I.D. of the parent category or subcategory, andtwo numeric I.D.s of categories or subcategories stored in adjacentfields.

In one embodiment, the client browser 336 receives the category andsubcategory information and displays the information hierarchically ingraphically distinct areas, as shown in FIG. 7. Each category isdisplayed in a category field 710. The category field 710 is a pagemark-up language document and contains multiple categories, arranged inalphabetical order. In one embodiment, the category field 710 containstwelve categories. Alternatively, other categories may be includedwithin the category field 710. Subcategories are displayed in severalsubcategory fields. A first subcategory field 720, a page mark-uplanguage document similar to the category field, is adjacent to categoryfield 710 and contains subcategories of each category displayed in field710. In one embodiment, the number of subcategories is different foreach displayed category. A second subcategory field 730 containssubcategories of each subcategory displayed in field 720. A thirdsubcategory field 740 contains subcategories of each subcategorydisplayed in field 730. A category number associated with each categoryand its respective subcategories is also displayed by the browser 336.The category number enables the user to select the associated categoryand subcategories without going through the entire selection process asshown in detail below.

The category selection process is implemented using the client browser336 and the server application 312. In one embodiment, the clientbrowser 336 and the server application 312 operate for facilitatingcategory selection by the user as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and describedin further detail below.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart representing the process of selecting an itemcategory in an online auction from a user's perspective. Referring toFIG. 4, in one embodiment, the client browser 336 within the clientapplication 332 receives category hierarchy data from the serverapplication 312 at step 405. The category hierarchy data includescategory and subcategory information. Using the category data, theclient browser 336 performs the category selection process as follows.Once the user is ready to select an item category, at step 410, adecision is made whether a category number is available to the user. Ifthe user has previously selected the same category and subcategories andhas stored the category number associated with the category and therespective subcategories, the user enters the category number at step420. As a result, based on the category number, the respective categoryand related subcategories are selected and displayed by the clientbrowser 336 in the respective fields.

If the category number or numeric I.D. is not available, then, at step430, the user selects a category from a list of available categoriesdisplayed in an interactive category area. Next, the client browser 336performs a test whether the selected category has related subcategoriesat step 440. If the selected category has no related subcategories, thenthe user has the option to record the category number of the selectedcategory at step 445 and may proceed further with the item registrationprocess. Alternatively, if related subcategories exist, the user selectsa subcategory from a list of available subcategories related to theselected category at step 450. The list of available subcategories isdisplayed in an interactive area adjacent to the category area. A testwhether the subcategory has no further related subcategories isperformed by the client browser at step 460. If no further relatedsubcategories exist, then the user may record the category number of theselected combination of category and subcategory at step 470 and proceedfurther with the item registration process. Otherwise, if furthersubcategories related to the selected subcategory are still available,the user goes back to step 450 and repeats the subcategory selectionprocess. The embodiment described above allows the client browser 336 toperform the category selection process using category data andJavascript code supplied by the server application 312. Alternatively,the server application 312 may interact with the user during theselection process and may perform other functions as described infurther detail below.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart representing an alternate embodiment of theprocess of selecting an item category in an online auction from theserver's perspective. Referring to FIG. 5, a decision is made at step510 whether a category number is available to the user. If the user haspreviously accessed the auction and has selected the same item categoryand subcategories, and a category number is available, then the serverapplication 312 receives the category number at step 520. The serverapplication 312 accesses the user database 318 and retrieves at step 530the category information corresponding to the category number, as wellas any related subcategories. The server application 312 subsequentlyforwards the information to the client application 332 and the categoryand subcategories are displayed for the user at step 535.

If the category number is not available, then the server application 312receives a category selection from the client application 332 at step540. At step 550, a test whether the category has any subcategories isperformed. The server application 312 accesses the database 318 anddetermines if related subcategories exist. If no subcategories exist forthe selected category, the server application 312 retrieves and returnsthe category number to the client application 332, the category numberbeing displayed to the user at step 555. If the selected category hasrelated subcategories, the server application 312 retrieves thesubcategories from database 318 and forwards the information to theclient application 332. The subcategories are then displayed at step560. Once the user selects a subcategory, the server application 312receives the subcategory selection at step 570, and subsequentlyaccesses the database 318 at step 580 to determine if the selectedsubcategory has any further subcategories. If no further subcategoriesexist, the server application 312 retrieves and returns the categorynumber to the client application 332, the category number beingdisplayed to the user at step 585. Alternatively, if the selectedsubcategory has a new set of subcategories, steps 560 and 570 arerepeated for the new set of subcategories.

Thus, a method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of itemcategories in an online auction has been described. Although the presentinvention has been described with reference to specific exemplaryembodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changesmay be made to these embodiments without departing from the broaderspirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification anddrawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving an identifier;determining that the identifier is associated with a selection in a userinterface of a combination of a category and a subcategory under whichitems included in listings in a networked marketplace environment areclassified; and based on the receiving of the identifier and thedetermining that the identifier is associated with the selection in theuser interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory,automatically reselecting in the user interface the combination of thecategory and the subcategory, the receiving, determining and reselectingbeing performed by one or more processors.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining that the identifier is associated with theselection in the user interface of the combination of the category andthe subcategory is based on the received identifier matching a storedidentifier, the stored identifier having being previously associatedwith the selection in the user interface of the category and thesubcategory.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, based on thereselecting in the user interface of the combination of the category andthe subcategory, completing a registration of a listing of an item asbeing classified under the reselected category and subcategory.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the association of the stored identifier withthe selection in the user interface of the category and subcategory isbased on inputs received when information pertaining to categories andsubcategories is represented in graphically distinct areas of the userinterface.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the graphically distinctareas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the information pertaining to the categoriesand subcategories is derived from database records corresponding to thecategories and subcategories.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thedatabase records include fields identifying categories or subcategoriesthat are adjacent to other categories or other subcategories.
 8. Asystem comprising: one or more modules configured to, using one or moreprocessors: receive an identifier; determine that the identifier isassociated with a selection in a user interface of a combination of acategory and a subcategory under which items included in listings in anetworked marketplace environment are classified; and based on thereceiving of the identifier and the determining that the identifier isassociated with the selection in the user interface of the combinationof the category and the subcategory, automatically reselecting in theuser interface the combination of the category and the subcategory. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the determining that the identifier isassociated with the selection in the user interface of the combinationof the category and the subcategory is based on the received identifiermatching a stored identifier; the stored identifier having beingpreviously associated with the selection in the user interface of thecategory and the subcategory.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the oneor more modules are further configured to, based on the reselecting inthe user interface of the combination of the category and thesubcategory, completing a registration of a listing of an item as beingclassified under the reselected category and subcategory.
 11. The systemof claim 8, wherein the association of the stored identifier with theselection in the user interface of the category and subcategory is basedon inputs received when information pertaining to categories andsubcategories is represented in graphically distinct areas of the userinterface.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the graphically distinctareas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the information pertaining to the categoriesand subcategories is derived from database records corresponding to thecategories and subcategories.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein thedatabase records include fields identifying categories or subcategoriesthat are adjacent to other categories or other subcategories.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations, the operations comprising: receivingan identifier; determining that the identifier is associated with aselection in a user interface of a combination of a category and asubcategory under which items included in listings in a networkedmarketplace environment are classified; and based on the receiving ofthe identifier and the determining that the identifier is associatedwith the selection in the user interface of the combination of thecategory and the subcategory, automatically reselecting in the userinterface the combination of the category and the subcategory.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein thedetermining that the identifier is associated with the selection in theuser interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory isbased on the received identifier matching a stored identifier, thestored identifier having being previously associated with the selectionin the user interface of the category and the subcategory.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operationsfurther comprising, based on the reselecting in the user interface ofthe combination of the category and the subcategory, completing aregistration of a listing of an item as being classified under thereselected category and subcategory.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the association of thestored identifier with the selection in the user interface of thecategory and subcategory is based on inputs received when informationpertaining to categories and subcategories is represented in graphicallydistinct areas of the user interface.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the graphically distinctareas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein theinformation pertaining to the categories and subcategories is derivedfrom database records corresponding to the categories and subcategories.